The battle lines have been drawn for the 2013 Super Rugby season with just the Australian sides playing in round one.

With the British & Irish Lions journeying Down Under next summer and playing the Australian franchises, SANZAR has been faced with a fixture conundrum. To get all the matches in over the duration of the season, Australian sides will be the only teams turning out in rounds one and 17 while in rounds 18 and 19, the New Zealand and South Africa sides will take to the field.

"The Lions tour to Australia presented some unique challenges in preparing the 2013 Super Rugby draw," SANZAR CEO Greg Peters said. "We are very appreciative of cooperation we received from the national Unions and broadcasters in preparing this draw and working through the issues."

Round one therefore sees the Melbourne Rebels hosting the Western Force and the Reds travelling to the Brumbies. Super Rugby newboys the Southern Kings will take their bow in the tournament against the Force in Port Elizabeth in round two while last season's champions the Chiefs start their campaign with a trip to the Highlanders.

With last season's Super Rugby continuing in the same vein as before with quick moving and easy on the eye rugby played throughout the tournament, Peters is looking forward to another exciting campaign.

"Over the last two seasons we have seen two franchises - the Reds and the Chiefs -win the Super Rugby trophy for the first time," Peters said. "The emphasis in early rounds is again on local derbies that have again proven to be the most watched and attended matches in 2012.

"The 2012 Super Rugby season was the most watched season of Super Rugby ever, both in terms of those attending matches live and also viewing on television. The 2013 draw will hopefully see us grow those numbers again."